Watch Modi Videos /enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6A91F2W7XM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDPJ5dK1Lp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw5W8mKAi44&feature=related
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Interlinking of Rivers Projects
Interlinking of Rivers projects estimated at Rs 4.44 lakh crore
New Delhi, UNI: Deccan Herald, Dec. 04, 2007
The Minister said the Task Force submitted Action Plan I and Action Plan II in April, 2003 and April, 2004 respectively and thus completed its assigned functions.
The Task force for the Interlinking of rivershas estimated the total cost of the project at Rs 4.44 lakh crore,the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In a reply during Question Hour, Minister of State for WaterResources Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav said,’’based on studies,the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) hasestimated that the cost of the ILR project would be Rs 4.44 lakh crore.The NCAER is of the view that the programme would take nearly35-40 years.’’The Minister said the Task Force submitted Action Plan Iand Action Plan II in April, 2003 and April, 2004 respectivelyand thus completed its assigned functions.
He said on the basis of a report from IIM Ahmedabad, a two tier institutional and organisational set up has been suggested for implementation of the programme on ILR with an apex body of the proposed set up.
‘’The Task force consulted ICICI for funding options which hasproposed that the funding should be partly through public, publicprivate and private inputs,’’the Minister said.
Expressing the Government’s commitment to implementing the ILR project, the Minister said,’’the project has been given due importance by the UPA government. No stone will be left unturned as we want to save the country from droughts and floods.’’
----- Original Message -----
From: K. R. Venkataramaiah
To: thehindu@vsnl.com
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 5:37 PM
Subject: Fw: Bring rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra to South India.
Subject: Bring rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra to South India.
Dear Sir / Madam:
So much of water from rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra is merging with the Bay of Bengal. Often, floods are causing havoc to populations and property.
Efforts should be made to harness this bountiful gift for the benefit of people who suffer so much without adequate rains and therefore not having enough water for basic needs and agriculture.
India's eminent engineer K. L. Rao had initiated proposals to bring river Ganga to the South decades ago. Apparently, the concept was not included in the five year plan at that time, may be due lack of required finances, or lack of required confidence or lack of will and or because of other priorities.
But the need for water has escalated owing to increase in population and changing rain patterns. On the other hand, economy of the country has improved multi-fold. The confidence level of the people of India has surged to much higher levels. The Engineering and technical skills of locals are no less to any outsiders. As a result, large and complicated projects can be initiated and completed as planned. What is needed is, from all quarters, the will and determination of the Leadership of the Nation to take on, such historical projects.
Ganga Water Way have to flow though the states of Uttarapradesh, Madyapradesh, Maharashtra, Andhrapradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Only, these states should share the costs of the project in proportion to the benefits acquired and in proportion to the complexities of the engineering tasks in its boundaries.
It is possible that this Ganga Water Way may have to cross rivers Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery.
Bramhaputra Water Way may have to flow through the states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisagarh, Orissa, Andrapradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
It is possible this Bramhaputra Water Way may have to cross rivers Kosi, Mahanadi and others.
If the concept is acceptable to the leadership, tabling the idea through Planning Commission and other committees should be avoided. Instead, an Engineering Group should be set up to draw the Conceptual Design, which when approved should lead to the final Detail Design.
This Engineering group should consist of the best engineers from each of the states having this water way. This group should directly report to the Water Way Ministers conference represented by the finance minister of each state having the water way, and headed by the Federal finance minister.
Such water ways will result in hydro electric power generation, enhance irrigation, provide recreational facilities, offer environmental beauty to birds, people and allow animals and vegetation to flourish and even could provide transportation means and improve tourism.
India has World-class engineers in all areas required for execution of this project-Civil, Structural, Seismic, Hydraulics, Dam Design as required, Surveying, Soil engineering, Tunnel engineering, Canal & Irrigation engineering, Electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer engineering.
India has also competent people in the associated areas of Scheduling, Procurement, Material Transportation, Configuration Control, Quality and Engineering Assurance, and Risk Management. All they need is the good will and support of the People of India and the blessings of their leaders.
The Ganga and Bramhaputra Water Way projects are achievable. All the like minded people should appeal to the leaders to make it happen. If these projects are undertaken, thousands of jobs will be created. This is good for the economy and good for India.
It is possible that many successful Indian companies and companies owned by Overseas Citizens of India and NRIs could assist.
The writer appreciates " The Hindu " very much for publishing the above information.
Dr. K. R. Venkatataramaiah, Ph. D., P.Eng.
Toronto, Canada
New Delhi, UNI: Deccan Herald, Dec. 04, 2007
The Minister said the Task Force submitted Action Plan I and Action Plan II in April, 2003 and April, 2004 respectively and thus completed its assigned functions.
The Task force for the Interlinking of rivershas estimated the total cost of the project at Rs 4.44 lakh crore,the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In a reply during Question Hour, Minister of State for WaterResources Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav said,’’based on studies,the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) hasestimated that the cost of the ILR project would be Rs 4.44 lakh crore.The NCAER is of the view that the programme would take nearly35-40 years.’’The Minister said the Task Force submitted Action Plan Iand Action Plan II in April, 2003 and April, 2004 respectivelyand thus completed its assigned functions.
He said on the basis of a report from IIM Ahmedabad, a two tier institutional and organisational set up has been suggested for implementation of the programme on ILR with an apex body of the proposed set up.
‘’The Task force consulted ICICI for funding options which hasproposed that the funding should be partly through public, publicprivate and private inputs,’’the Minister said.
Expressing the Government’s commitment to implementing the ILR project, the Minister said,’’the project has been given due importance by the UPA government. No stone will be left unturned as we want to save the country from droughts and floods.’’
----- Original Message -----
From: K. R. Venkataramaiah
To: thehindu@vsnl.com
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 5:37 PM
Subject: Fw: Bring rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra to South India.
Subject: Bring rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra to South India.
Dear Sir / Madam:
So much of water from rivers Ganga and Bramhaputra is merging with the Bay of Bengal. Often, floods are causing havoc to populations and property.
Efforts should be made to harness this bountiful gift for the benefit of people who suffer so much without adequate rains and therefore not having enough water for basic needs and agriculture.
India's eminent engineer K. L. Rao had initiated proposals to bring river Ganga to the South decades ago. Apparently, the concept was not included in the five year plan at that time, may be due lack of required finances, or lack of required confidence or lack of will and or because of other priorities.
But the need for water has escalated owing to increase in population and changing rain patterns. On the other hand, economy of the country has improved multi-fold. The confidence level of the people of India has surged to much higher levels. The Engineering and technical skills of locals are no less to any outsiders. As a result, large and complicated projects can be initiated and completed as planned. What is needed is, from all quarters, the will and determination of the Leadership of the Nation to take on, such historical projects.
Ganga Water Way have to flow though the states of Uttarapradesh, Madyapradesh, Maharashtra, Andhrapradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Only, these states should share the costs of the project in proportion to the benefits acquired and in proportion to the complexities of the engineering tasks in its boundaries.
It is possible that this Ganga Water Way may have to cross rivers Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery.
Bramhaputra Water Way may have to flow through the states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisagarh, Orissa, Andrapradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
It is possible this Bramhaputra Water Way may have to cross rivers Kosi, Mahanadi and others.
If the concept is acceptable to the leadership, tabling the idea through Planning Commission and other committees should be avoided. Instead, an Engineering Group should be set up to draw the Conceptual Design, which when approved should lead to the final Detail Design.
This Engineering group should consist of the best engineers from each of the states having this water way. This group should directly report to the Water Way Ministers conference represented by the finance minister of each state having the water way, and headed by the Federal finance minister.
Such water ways will result in hydro electric power generation, enhance irrigation, provide recreational facilities, offer environmental beauty to birds, people and allow animals and vegetation to flourish and even could provide transportation means and improve tourism.
India has World-class engineers in all areas required for execution of this project-Civil, Structural, Seismic, Hydraulics, Dam Design as required, Surveying, Soil engineering, Tunnel engineering, Canal & Irrigation engineering, Electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer engineering.
India has also competent people in the associated areas of Scheduling, Procurement, Material Transportation, Configuration Control, Quality and Engineering Assurance, and Risk Management. All they need is the good will and support of the People of India and the blessings of their leaders.
The Ganga and Bramhaputra Water Way projects are achievable. All the like minded people should appeal to the leaders to make it happen. If these projects are undertaken, thousands of jobs will be created. This is good for the economy and good for India.
It is possible that many successful Indian companies and companies owned by Overseas Citizens of India and NRIs could assist.
The writer appreciates " The Hindu " very much for publishing the above information.
Dr. K. R. Venkatataramaiah, Ph. D., P.Eng.
Toronto, Canada
Ramayana Action Figures
November 25, 2007
KIDS: American Company's Ramayana Action Figures
With the weekend after Thanksgiving being the busiest time for shopping each year, I figured some of you looking for South Asian-themed gifts this year might want to consider something unusual that came to our attention.
From a press release by the Pennsylavania-based Kridana Toys:
ARDMORE, PA: My name is Mahender Swami Nathan.
I am an Indian-American and the founder of Kridana.
We are a toy company focused on bringing the Great Indian Epics to new generations through the power of play.
We've just launched our first products: action figures of Lord Rama and Shri Hanuman from the Ramayana – one of the most popular epics both within India and across Asia – made with the involvement of some of the toy industry's top craftsmen. We've also published our first comic book issues.
These stories bring to life key vignettes for both Rama and Hanuman as first told in the Ramayana 2000 years ago and now retold through the inks and colors of today's top comic book artists, including the world-renown Mike Turner of Aspen Comics who drew our inaugural cover.Check us out at Kridana.com and don't hesitate to call me with pre-story questions for pitches. We're currently selling product in the U.S. and Canada, our first target markets. Our products are currently available at our own website, and in December we expect to be selling through select toy and comic book stores and also general food and merchandise stores catering to the Asian-Indian market.
The seven-inch-tall Rama and Hanuman figures sell for $15 each and are available at the site.
My first question, given all the news about toy recalls from big manufacturers was whether I'd be able to trust a tiny company making its first products. While the Kridana toys are made in China, its site goes out of its way to prove its safety credentials. From its "product safety" section:
Our toys are produced to the highest standards in a modern factory which we have inspected ourselves. They are tested rigorously by an outside, 3rd-party lab: SGS Group of Switzerland (learn more about them). And, when we say we test, we don’t test once or twice; we pull toys from throughout the actual production run to send to SGS, ensuring that the toys which pass SGS’s standards are the same ones your child is playing with at home.
We feel so passionately about safety that we’re taking the unusual step of putting our test results here, on kridana.com, for you to see. It’s true that some of these pages read like a chemistry report, but, we’re an educational toy company!
Take a look at the press release below (Nathan's contacts below, too) and post your comments below. Also see coverage at SepiaMutiny and Ultrabrown.
Press release
Kridana Toys Unveils First-Ever Action Figures Based On Great Indian Epics
Kridana (kree-da-na): Sanskrit, meaning toy or plaything.
ARDMORE, PA: My name is Mahender Swami Nathan. I am an Indian-American and the founder of Kridana. We are a toy company focused on bringing the Great Indian Epics to new generations through the power of play. We've just launched our first products: action figures of Lord Rama and Shri Hanuman from the Ramayana – one of the most popular epics both within India and across Asia – made with the involvement of some of the toy industry's top craftsmen. We've also published our first comic book issues. These stories bring to life key vignettes for both Rama and Hanuman as first told in the Ramayana 2,000 years ago and now retold through the inks and colors of today's top comic book artists, including the world-renown Mike Turner of Aspen Comics who drew our inaugural cover.
In the Ramayana, Lord Rama, an exiled prince, searches the world over for his kidnapped wife Sita. Hanuman becomes his most faithful assistant along the way. As a child growing up in India and the United States, I was captivated by this world of heroes, demons, adventures and intrigue.
While I treasured my Transformers and GI Joes, I longed to bring Hanuman to my friends' houses to save the day. As an adult, I'm excited to finally bring the Ramayana's incomprable heroism, honor, duty and love into childrens' everyday worlds in the ways that they enjoy and understand -- the 3-D play of toys and the 2-D stories of comics.
Our toys are collectible quality but durable enough to stand up to whatever kids can dish out. We choose to manufacture with a 30-year veteran of the toy industry, and all of our production runs are rigorously tested by independent, 3rd-party labs to ensure both the toys' mechanical safety and the absence of dangerous lead levels in their paint. Moreover, both Hanuman and Rama are made from non-phthalate PVC plastic, an environmentally friendly plastic that is safer for our children. (Many European countries, as well as California starting in 2009, mandate the usage of non-phthalate PVCs in children's toys for this very safety concern.)
Sometime in 2008 we plan to bring out another action figure: Ravana, the ultimate demon king. Over time we will expand our products to include not only an ever broader range of the characters from the Ramayana but also those from other Indian Epics.
Check us out at Kridana.com and don't hesitate to call me with pre-story questions for pitches. We're currently selling product in the U.S. and Canada, our first target markets. Our products are currently available at our own website, and in December we expect to be selling through select toy and comic book stores and also general food and merchandise stores catering to the Asian-Indian market. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,Mahender Swami NathanCo-president & Founder,Kridana.commahender[at]kridana.com610-529-6701
KIDS: American Company's Ramayana Action Figures
With the weekend after Thanksgiving being the busiest time for shopping each year, I figured some of you looking for South Asian-themed gifts this year might want to consider something unusual that came to our attention.
From a press release by the Pennsylavania-based Kridana Toys:
ARDMORE, PA: My name is Mahender Swami Nathan.
I am an Indian-American and the founder of Kridana.
We are a toy company focused on bringing the Great Indian Epics to new generations through the power of play.
We've just launched our first products: action figures of Lord Rama and Shri Hanuman from the Ramayana – one of the most popular epics both within India and across Asia – made with the involvement of some of the toy industry's top craftsmen. We've also published our first comic book issues.
These stories bring to life key vignettes for both Rama and Hanuman as first told in the Ramayana 2000 years ago and now retold through the inks and colors of today's top comic book artists, including the world-renown Mike Turner of Aspen Comics who drew our inaugural cover.
The seven-inch-tall Rama and Hanuman figures sell for $15 each and are available at the site.
My first question, given all the news about toy recalls from big manufacturers was whether I'd be able to trust a tiny company making its first products. While the Kridana toys are made in China, its site goes out of its way to prove its safety credentials. From its "product safety" section:
Our toys are produced to the highest standards in a modern factory which we have inspected ourselves. They are tested rigorously by an outside, 3rd-party lab: SGS Group of Switzerland (learn more about them). And, when we say we test, we don’t test once or twice; we pull toys from throughout the actual production run to send to SGS, ensuring that the toys which pass SGS’s standards are the same ones your child is playing with at home.
We feel so passionately about safety that we’re taking the unusual step of putting our test results here, on kridana.com, for you to see. It’s true that some of these pages read like a chemistry report, but, we’re an educational toy company!
Take a look at the press release below (Nathan's contacts below, too) and post your comments below. Also see coverage at SepiaMutiny and Ultrabrown.
Press release
Kridana Toys Unveils First-Ever Action Figures Based On Great Indian Epics
Kridana (kree-da-na): Sanskrit, meaning toy or plaything.
ARDMORE, PA: My name is Mahender Swami Nathan. I am an Indian-American and the founder of Kridana. We are a toy company focused on bringing the Great Indian Epics to new generations through the power of play. We've just launched our first products: action figures of Lord Rama and Shri Hanuman from the Ramayana – one of the most popular epics both within India and across Asia – made with the involvement of some of the toy industry's top craftsmen. We've also published our first comic book issues. These stories bring to life key vignettes for both Rama and Hanuman as first told in the Ramayana 2,000 years ago and now retold through the inks and colors of today's top comic book artists, including the world-renown Mike Turner of Aspen Comics who drew our inaugural cover.
In the Ramayana, Lord Rama, an exiled prince, searches the world over for his kidnapped wife Sita. Hanuman becomes his most faithful assistant along the way. As a child growing up in India and the United States, I was captivated by this world of heroes, demons, adventures and intrigue.
While I treasured my Transformers and GI Joes, I longed to bring Hanuman to my friends' houses to save the day. As an adult, I'm excited to finally bring the Ramayana's incomprable heroism, honor, duty and love into childrens' everyday worlds in the ways that they enjoy and understand -- the 3-D play of toys and the 2-D stories of comics.
Our toys are collectible quality but durable enough to stand up to whatever kids can dish out. We choose to manufacture with a 30-year veteran of the toy industry, and all of our production runs are rigorously tested by independent, 3rd-party labs to ensure both the toys' mechanical safety and the absence of dangerous lead levels in their paint. Moreover, both Hanuman and Rama are made from non-phthalate PVC plastic, an environmentally friendly plastic that is safer for our children. (Many European countries, as well as California starting in 2009, mandate the usage of non-phthalate PVCs in children's toys for this very safety concern.)
Sometime in 2008 we plan to bring out another action figure: Ravana, the ultimate demon king. Over time we will expand our products to include not only an ever broader range of the characters from the Ramayana but also those from other Indian Epics.
Check us out at Kridana.com and don't hesitate to call me with pre-story questions for pitches. We're currently selling product in the U.S. and Canada, our first target markets. Our products are currently available at our own website, and in December we expect to be selling through select toy and comic book stores and also general food and merchandise stores catering to the Asian-Indian market. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,Mahender Swami NathanCo-president & Founder,Kridana.commahender[at]kridana.com610-529-6701
2.3 Millions Hindus In America
STATISTICS: Nearly 2.3 million Hindus estimated in America
Hinduism Today estimates that there are more than 2,290,000 Hindus in the United States. The editors decided to use the percentage of Hindus in India - 81% of the population - and apply that against the total number of Asian Indians in America. Here's an excerpt from the Jan/Feb/March issue of the magazine:
"The 2006 [American Community] Survey, which was released in October, 2007, counted 2,482,141 Asian Indians.
This includes those of Indian origin coming from countries such as Trinidad, Kenya, Surinam and Fiji. To update this figure for 2008, we must consider the average annual growth rate for Asian Indians.
In the year 2000, the decennial census counted 1,678,765 Asian Indians; the Survey estimated 2,482,141 in 2006, which works out to an annual growth rate of about 6.8 percent. Using that growth rate to extrapolate the 2006 Survey result two years, we calculate 2,831,190 Asian Indians in 2008. Assuming 81% of these Asian Indians are Hindus, just as in India, we conclude that of the 2,831,190 Asian Indians, 2,290,000 are Hindus--qed! But despite the compelling logic of this analysis, Hinduism Today has never seen it published elsewhere. What about the other estimates?"
The article then addresses the problem with the definitive figure, cited by the American Religious Identification Survey, or ARIS:
"This was a telephone survey involving 50,281 households. ARIS concluded that 0.4% of America's population, or about 1.2 million people in 2008, are Hindus.
In the absence of a more extensive study, this has become a semi-official number, sustained by the ARIS report's easy availability at the main US Census Bureau website. Before the advent of the American Community Survey, there was no way of challenging ARIS' conclusions. The ARIS report forthrightly acknowledges its limits.
It admits, "because the survey depends on telephone interviews, overcoming language barriers has proven prohibitively costly. In effect, this survey has interviewed only the English-speaking population of the US. In addition, many new immigrants originate in societies and states where responding to personal questions over the telephone is an alien experience, and discussions of one's religious beliefs and identification are deemed to be risky."
"The report's conclusion mentions the impressive growth of Hinduism in America, observing, "there are more than three times as many Hindus in the US today as there were in 1990. Undoubtedly, due to the limitations of this study, we have not picked up the full impact of those changes yet." Unfortunately, the ARIS estimate is typically quoted as fact, with no mention of these caveats."
Earlier on SAJAforum:
Hinduism Today estimates that there are more than 2,290,000 Hindus in the United States. The editors decided to use the percentage of Hindus in India - 81% of the population - and apply that against the total number of Asian Indians in America. Here's an excerpt from the Jan/Feb/March issue of the magazine:
"The 2006 [American Community] Survey, which was released in October, 2007, counted 2,482,141 Asian Indians.
This includes those of Indian origin coming from countries such as Trinidad, Kenya, Surinam and Fiji. To update this figure for 2008, we must consider the average annual growth rate for Asian Indians.
In the year 2000, the decennial census counted 1,678,765 Asian Indians; the Survey estimated 2,482,141 in 2006, which works out to an annual growth rate of about 6.8 percent. Using that growth rate to extrapolate the 2006 Survey result two years, we calculate 2,831,190 Asian Indians in 2008. Assuming 81% of these Asian Indians are Hindus, just as in India, we conclude that of the 2,831,190 Asian Indians, 2,290,000 are Hindus--qed! But despite the compelling logic of this analysis, Hinduism Today has never seen it published elsewhere. What about the other estimates?"
The article then addresses the problem with the definitive figure, cited by the American Religious Identification Survey, or ARIS:
"This was a telephone survey involving 50,281 households. ARIS concluded that 0.4% of America's population, or about 1.2 million people in 2008, are Hindus.
In the absence of a more extensive study, this has become a semi-official number, sustained by the ARIS report's easy availability at the main US Census Bureau website. Before the advent of the American Community Survey, there was no way of challenging ARIS' conclusions. The ARIS report forthrightly acknowledges its limits.
It admits, "because the survey depends on telephone interviews, overcoming language barriers has proven prohibitively costly. In effect, this survey has interviewed only the English-speaking population of the US. In addition, many new immigrants originate in societies and states where responding to personal questions over the telephone is an alien experience, and discussions of one's religious beliefs and identification are deemed to be risky."
"The report's conclusion mentions the impressive growth of Hinduism in America, observing, "there are more than three times as many Hindus in the US today as there were in 1990. Undoubtedly, due to the limitations of this study, we have not picked up the full impact of those changes yet." Unfortunately, the ARIS estimate is typically quoted as fact, with no mention of these caveats."
Earlier on SAJAforum:
Census USA South asian..
CENSUS: The top South Asian surnames in America (Patel et al)
According to a new Census study, based on returns from the year 2000 (Excel spreadsheet via the NY Times) the most common surname in America is... Smith.
No surprise there. So, what's the most common desi surname?
That would be... Patel. It's the 172nd most common surname in America (way up from its standing in 1990, when it was a mere #591). By these Census figures, there were 145,066 Patels in the country,
resulting in 54 occurrences per 100,000 people.
Just over 91% of all Patels are classified as Asians.
Between scrolling down the Excel spreadsheet and randomly plugging in other names into the Times page, here are a few other desi names I found in the Top 5000.
Singh - #396 (#1306 in 1990) - there were 72,642 Singhs in all
Khan - #665 (#1728)
Shah - #831 (#2194)
Kumar - #2293 (#5154)
Desai - #2540 (#5068)
Gupta - #3173 (#6863)
Reddy - #3313 (#3776)
Mehta - #3377 (#7589)
Rao - #3872 (#7375)
How's that for nominal (get it?) progress? I realize a couple of these names, like Khan or Rao, may also be found outside of South Asia but thought it better to err on the side of inclusion (although, controversially, I didn't accept Gay, #974, as a cognate of Ghai).
I also figure some names, like Chowdhury/Choudhry and other variations, might've been serious contenders if not for all the different spellings. Sorry, Bangla-philes. Sadly,
Venugopal didn't even receive an honorable mention;
nor did Screwvalla or Palaniappan.
Update: Thanks to Mitra Kalita for pointing out a name I'd missed -
Sharma - #2247
Any other suggestions? Plug in any other South Asian names here - if they make the Top 5,000 let us know below.
According to a new Census study, based on returns from the year 2000 (Excel spreadsheet via the NY Times) the most common surname in America is... Smith.
No surprise there. So, what's the most common desi surname?
That would be... Patel. It's the 172nd most common surname in America (way up from its standing in 1990, when it was a mere #591). By these Census figures, there were 145,066 Patels in the country,
resulting in 54 occurrences per 100,000 people.
Just over 91% of all Patels are classified as Asians.
Between scrolling down the Excel spreadsheet and randomly plugging in other names into the Times page, here are a few other desi names I found in the Top 5000.
Singh - #396 (#1306 in 1990) - there were 72,642 Singhs in all
Khan - #665 (#1728)
Shah - #831 (#2194)
Kumar - #2293 (#5154)
Desai - #2540 (#5068)
Gupta - #3173 (#6863)
Reddy - #3313 (#3776)
Mehta - #3377 (#7589)
Rao - #3872 (#7375)
How's that for nominal (get it?) progress? I realize a couple of these names, like Khan or Rao, may also be found outside of South Asia but thought it better to err on the side of inclusion (although, controversially, I didn't accept Gay, #974, as a cognate of Ghai).
I also figure some names, like Chowdhury/Choudhry and other variations, might've been serious contenders if not for all the different spellings. Sorry, Bangla-philes. Sadly,
Venugopal didn't even receive an honorable mention;
nor did Screwvalla or Palaniappan.
Update: Thanks to Mitra Kalita for pointing out a name I'd missed -
Sharma - #2247
Any other suggestions? Plug in any other South Asian names here - if they make the Top 5,000 let us know below.
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